Annalynn, a retro arcade-style game on Steam!

This game came out last year, but I just now learned of it. Annalynn is a new game with an early ’80s arcade game appeal. It is a sort of a cross between Mario Bros. and Pac-Man.

The intro to this game introduces a miner named Annalynn, who finds herself in an underground construction zone. These four cute snakes, Randy, Candy, Handy, and Mike are down there and they don’t like this intruder and will chase you. Anna’s pick axe is broken, so now she is defenseless.

It took me a bit to figure out how to play. As you can see, it’s a side-view platformer arena, sort of like Mario Bros. The goal is to collect all of the gems, just like Pac-Man. But you can’t jump up to hit the beams to stun the snakes like Mario would. Your only button allows you to jump. The snakes cannot jump, but they can slither into the snake holes in the background to move up or down to different platforms. Also, there are some half platform sections where you can jump through.

The snakes respawn by falling from holes in the ceiling. They fall way faster than I would expect for an early ’80s game. I’m not griping, but I think I just need to get used to how this game works.

When you grab a power jem, the snakes all turn blue for a brief while and you can kick the crap out of them, so it’s just like Pac-Man in that regard.

You’ll be alerted when a bonus appears in the arena, like a cupcake in level 1. Once you’ve collected all the gems, you proceed to round 2. Each round appears unique.

After the 4th round, ropes are introduced, harkening to Donkey Kong Jr.

As expected, there is a simulated CRT mode with scanlines, but this takes it a bit further and simulates the curvature of an old monitor. Wow, that’s a neat effect, but I think I’ll leave it standard. There is also an option to give the snakes hats and sunglasses too.

The Proton utility allows this game to run perfectly in Linux. A 4:3 aspect ratio can be selected, which is always a welcome feature for me because I prefer 4:3 for my desktop. Actually, the 16:9 was enabled by default and I didn’t really notice it. All it really affects is the side art, which is very fabulously retro as well. The snakes are so cute! I think I will make iron bead versions of them.

My new Sega arcade stick arrived this evening!

Oh yeah! A month or so ago I was outbid on one of these on Yahoo Auctions Japan, but this month I scored. It’s a Virtua Stick for the Sega Saturn. Over 20 years ago, I had the opportunity to get the double-sized (2 players) version for about 8000 yen, but declined. I couldn’t afford it at the time, and plus it was just too big. This Virtua Stick gives you the feel of playing on an Astro City or Blast City cab at home. It has autofire switches and a slide to set its rate of fire. It was sold as “junk” because it hadn’t been confirmed, but so far it seems to work just fine. It was a bit filthy, but I cleaned it up. FYI: Zippo lighter oil works well to remove price tag residue.


Oh, and what’s that next to it? That’s my Mayflash Saturn to USB converter. It works in Linux and this evening I played some Pac-Man on my new Virtua Stick in Final Burn via RetroPie.

Hacking my Sega Megadrive Mini

I’m on summer vacation this week. I finally did it. I haxxored my Mega Drive Mini. Mixed feelings. I had to install filthy Win10 onto a spare HD in order to run the Project Lunar software. It’s weird. My PC desktop is Linux, and these mini consoles are essentially small Linux boxes. Yet the software to interface with the Mini is Windows-only. WHY? Barf.

To hook the MD Mini to the PC, a USB cable capable of data transfers is necessary. Press and hold the reset button, connect the USB cable, then turn it on and wait for the power button to stop blinking. From there, the Project Lunar software lets you add games. Then at last you press the Synch button. Easy. The MD Mini’s internal HD has quite a lot of free space inside, so I was able to load several games.

I didn’t want to just dump a butt-ton of roms since I couldn’t care less about Rug Rats or Barbie or crap like that. I selected the games that I felt should have been on it, like Strider and the first Sonic (the MD Mini has Sonic 2 while the North American Genesis Mini came with the first Sonic).

Son, I am slightly disappoint. So get this. Project Lunar puts Retro Arch onto the console, yet there are compatibility issues. Sonic, Rolling Thunder 2 & 3, Thunder Force 4, Twinkle Tale, and several games I loaded onto it work just fine. HOWEVER… Devil Hunter Yohko gets to the title screen, but once the level begins, the screen goes black. Verytex and Tatsujin/Truxton are silent. Phelios causes the unit to crash and force a reboot. Panorama Cotton has a few glitch issues. There is a compatibility database, the “Mega Drive / Genesis Mini Compatibility List” located here:
https://megadrive-compatibility.netlify.app/

I didn’t know this before installing. I just figured with Retro Arch taking care of it, there would be no problem. Is the architecture of this MD Mini considerably different than a Raspberry Pi? I did not expect any games to not work as I figured there would be no such compatibility issues. That said, I can go ahead and remove the malfunctioning games and just focus on the excellent games it already comes with, plus games I must first verify compatibility before installing.

Something else that’s weird: I deliberately put the English fan translated rom of Gleylancer, yet it only detects Japanese. Even when I switch the unit’s language to English, it’s still in Japanese. That’s… weird.

Is it worth hacking the MD Mini? Yeah, I think so. Battle Mania 1&2, Arrow Flash, Road Blasters, and Gaiares work, but I am a bit bummed that Burning Force, Hellfire, and the others I mentioned above do not work.

So, this MD Mini console is a lot of fun, but in the end it still cannot compare to a Raspberry Pi running Retropie and using a Saturn controller through a Mayflash Saturn to USB converter, as it’ll run Gen/MD, CD, and 32X games.

Side note: I frickin’ HATE Windows10. Bloaty McBloaterson. The install ISO wouldn’t even fit onto a regular DVD-R! I had to use a dual-layer DVD-R. Sheesh! With Linux, you can boot to the install disc and run the actual OS off of it!

Super Hydorah: a fun Konami-style shmup on Steam

I’ve had this game on my Steam wishlist for a while, and as soon as it went on sale this month, I bought it. It has a “silver” rating on the Proton Database, but after installing it, I had no problems running the game at all on my Linux desktop, without having to make changes.

Super Hydorah is obviously inspired by Konami side-scrolling shmups like Gradius and Salamander, but doesn’t try too hard to duplicate these games. The game features simulated CRT scanlines that look nice. Usually I opt to not enable such a feature because it just doesn’t look right for some reason.

Right off, you can see that this is not exactly a Gradius clone. You can start the game in which shields protect you three times but you only get half a score, or a shield that protects you only once but you get full points.

As soon as the game starts, it looks exactly as you’d expect from a Konami-inspired shmup. Weapon powerups, however, are handled differently. You can slowly charge up your shot to become a double shot (fortunately it’s autofire), but don’t expect any bombs until level 2.

The first boss is a creepy eyeball with tentacles, fairly reminiscent of the first boss in Salamander.

After you clear a stage, it brings you to the Mission Select screen. Apparently after the second level, divergent routes can be selected.

Now you can equip your fighter with bombs and missiles.

The second level presents a twist: here are human buildings you must not destroy, lest you be docked 2,000 points per building! Space insurance must be at a premium.The bombs are launched along with your regular shot, so be careful. They take several hits before they are destroyed. Hold your fire and shoot only when you are clear to do so.

I’ve only played the game for about an hour, and have yet to get past level 2’s mid-boss. So far, it’s pretty great. I just noticed that the stupid mouse cursor shows up in these screenshots! Nuts.

My nerd cave late at night.

Here is my hobby room, late at night. This is where I keep my retro game collection, my plastic models and hobby bench, and my Linux desktop. You can see my Pac-Man lamps, my Dragon Quest Slime lamp, and on the wall my Pac-Man LED neon lamp. The pixel art is done with iron beads. The posters from left to right are: Puyo Puyo 2 (SFC), Cardcaptor Sakura Tetris (PS1), Bubblegum Crisis, Sakura Taisen (Sat), and Dead or Alive 2 (DC).

Ballistic NG: the spiritual successor to the Wipeout game series on Steam

I’m a jibungous fan of the Wipeout game series. Soon after I bought myself a Playstation in 1996 or so, I played the first game and I loved it. Antigravity racecars on futuristic racing courses, picking up powerups for weapons, speed boosts, and defensive capabilities, firing at each other in an attempt to slow down the competition… I loved it. Then came the sequel Wipeout XL, which had faster action, the ability to eliminate competitors, and had a hard-hitting techno soundtrack. That game introduced my cousin and me to techno. It was famous for Future Sound of London and Chemical Brothers, among others. Then came Wip3out, the third game. The music had changed… it was trance rather than techno, with Paul van Dyk, Sasha, Orbital, and others. It’s not what I expected, but in the end I now listen to trance far more today. The graphics were sharper, and it introduced the afterburner button. In the first two games, you needed to pick up a powerup for a speed boost, but in the third you can use the afterburner to do this, at the expense of depleting your shield energy, which puts you at risk of elimination.

I had a friend in my college years in the last half of the ’90s. I met him on an anime BBS just before I discovered the internet. He went to DeVry, gradauted after 3 years, and had a condo in the San Diego area while I was still a student. In the summer I’d go spend 2 weeks at his apartment. Heworked, but he also took time off to do stuff together, and we’d attend the San Diego Comic Con together. That was back when you could just show up, buy a one day ticket and attend. While he was at work, I’d park my ass on his sofa and play video games. He had a shy cat that would stay under his bed all day, but eventually she got used to me and made friends with me. I played the crap out of Wip3out, setting out to get the gold metal for every racer on every track on every difficulty level.

I loved the aesthetic that remained consistent among these three games, as the graphic design and stylized fonts and such were all done by The Designers Republic. I tried emulating their style when I made the index page for my homepage, full of stripes, bold colors, incorporated decorational Japanese text, and futuristic fonts.

On the PS2 there was Wipeout Fusion, which really changed the game and everyone was disappointed. It was developed by a totally new team, and they failed to live up to everyone’s expectations. Then on the PSP they released two solid Wipeout games that were closer to the original. I have Pure, but I never got around to buying Pulse. In 2012 though, Psygnosis merged with another company and was no more.

Last weekend, on Steam I discovered a game called Ballistic NG. It is the spiritual successor to the Wipeout series, developed by just two fans of the series. One guy is the lead developer, and the other guy specializes in the Linux and Mac programming. They even call themselves Neognosis Games, a reference of sorts to Psygnosis. Ballistic remains faithful to the first three games, and particularly the third game because it has the afterburner feature. I bought the game for only about 900 yen or so Sunday night, then Monday evening I played it, got used to it, and love it. I’ve been playing it every day as soon as I get home, and will likely do the same this evening.

I even remember the names of the different racing companies from the Wipeout games: Feisar, Auricom Research, AG Systems, Qirex, Assegai, Piranha… The racers in Ballistic are extremely similar to those in Wipeout, and their stats and handling make them feel very familiar.

The graphics are greatly updated, yet they still have a bit of an earlier Playstation feel to them. There are options to add emulated CRT scanlines and such, but I prefer not to have them.

Ballistic NG is available on Steam OS, so it runs natively on my Linux desktop flawlessly.

I always thought it would be cool if there were plastic models of the racers in the Wipeout series. I did a search and found 3D print files for many of them! They’d require decals to look nice, though.

One last thing about the old PS1 Wipeout games: you know the BGM track “Body In Motion” by Cold Storage? There’s a part when a distorted voice says repeats “body in motion” repeatedly. From the beginning, I always heard it wrong and thought it was saying “Easter Bunny” repeatedly instead. I’ve shared this with people and they can now hear it too.

A trip to Mandai in Takasaki

We were in Takasaki last night and we stopped by the Mandai there. A few months ago, Mandai relocated from its large two buildings into a smaller building, sharing the location with Gunma Leisure Land game center. It’s confusing, but Mandai is located on the first and third floors, while Gunma Leisure Land is on the basement and second floors. Mandai has its own area of UFO catchers.

There were xenomorph figures from Alien in one UFO catcher. I gave it one shot and gave up. Those larger, heavier boxes are difficult to grab. I went into the main store area to look at figures and models while Mayu checked out the dagashiya/candy store area.

Amuro Rey figure, apparently from Char’s Counterattack.

A figure of the Serbine. I’m currently working on the Serbine model by Max Factory.

Plenty of Gundam models. Unfortunately, my camera wasn’t focusing properly on some of this stuff.

Next I went to the third floor to check out the video game stuff.

Neo Geo AES and Mega Drive games.

Boxed Super Famicom and Saturn consoles.

Here are the Super Famicom Mini and Mega Drive mini consoles, plus plenty of handhelds: Neo Geo Pocket Color, Game Boy Color, Wonderswan, Game Boy Advance, etc. I bought my first NGPC for only 1000 yen about 21 years ago in a cramped shopping alley under the train tracks in Kobe called Motoko. This shopping alley stretches between Sannomiya Station and Kobe Station and is home to many used clothing, used appliances, junk electronics, antiques, and retro game shops. At least that’s how it was when I lived in Hyogo Prefecture at the time.

Check out the prices on these Saturn games. Crows 18,000, Twinkle Star Sprites 10,000, Hyper Duel 60,000, Castlevania SOTN 16,000 (I think), can’t make out the price on Radiant Silvergun, Rockman 15,000, Doom 10,000 (NOT worth it), and I see a loose HuCard Parasol Stars for PC Engine laying in front of Dodonpachi. I really wish I had the chance to get Hyper Duel back in the day, but now it is incredibly expensive.

I guess not all retrogaming is terribly expensive. Here are Arkanoid, Arkanoid II, and After Burner for the Famicom, cart only, for decent prices.

I decided to check out their anime soundtracks and found several records for sale: Castle of Cagliostro, Urusei Yatsura, Ashita no Joe, Macross, and Gundam. Pretty cheap, too. I guess the hipsters are leaving the retro record market alone.

At Leisure Land, I played some air hockey with Ulan. There are two lonely Sega Astro City cabinets in the back corner with Shanghai games running on them. 100 yen gives you two credits, so I played this one. Shanghai III was next to it, but an older woman there playing on it.

So what did I buy that night? I bought this nice figure of Mai from King of Fighters, loose, for 1700 yen. It was a fun night.

Wild Guns Reloaded on Steam

I recently learned that Wild Guns on the Super Famicom by Natsume has been remade and is available on Steam. I haven’t played this game in over a decade. I have the SNES cartridge but was never able to get it for the SFC. Now it’s been remade with enhanced visuals and music, plus two additional characters (which are pretty meh). the original Clint and Annie are the best characters to play.

Cowboys vs. robots! Neon signs, disco rooms, steampunk contraptions. This is a pseudo 3D shooter, similar to Cabal. A button to shoot, a button to dodge/jump, and another button to ignite a bomb for heavy damage. Tap the shot button to lasso an enemy to stun him. Press the shot button on an enemy up close to activate a melee attack for bonus points.

Shoot bonus items to collect money and limited time shots, such as shotgun, heavy machine gun, bazooka, and this Ghostbusters-esque laser gun.

Cowboys vs. giant robots. Badass. So if Natsume is still around, it’d be nice if they could release their Pocky & Rocky/ Kiki Kaikai games on Steam. This game works flawlessly on my Linux desktop through the Proton utility.

Ex Zodiac, a clone of the 16-bit Star Fox game for Steam

Very cool. This game has yet to be released, but I could download a free demo of the game so far. At first glance, you’d swear that you were watching Star Fox on the Super Famicom/Super Nintendo.

It’s extremely similar in gameplay, although Ex Zodiac adds a lock-on missile attack, which is rather nice.

I haven’t spent a whole lot of time on this game, but it’s pretty fun. It’s available on Steam OS, so it runs natively on my Linux computer.